Cable advertising standards and programs

Cable companies’ efforts to create a uniform national ad market are moving forward even as some in the industry hope for an Obama FCC decision to permit further mergers and acquisitions. At the moment, the market share cap imposed on cable prevents further consolidation, and cable operators feel that this may be limiting cable’s potential to create a uniform ad strategy.

The “Canoe” initiative is being supplemented by the SCTE 130 ad platform standard that is likely to be the common mechanism for interactive advertising in cable from 2009 onward. The move is seen as essential in making cable TV more competitive with the Internet, but it will also likely put pressure on the telcos.